1. Field
The presently disclosed subject matter relates to an apparatus, system and method for adding hops to a beverage, and more specifically relates to an apparatus, system and method for adding hops to a fermentation tank while preventing oxygen infiltration during a process for making a beverage, such as beer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, the brewing process includes a series of sequential (and sometimes non-sequential) steps, which can include one or more of the following: malting, in which barley is converted to malt having a distinct flavor and containing a large amount of enzyme; milling, in which the malt is milled in order to make malt flour; mashing, in which the milled malt is mixed with water so as to form a mash; brewing the mash by applying a precise heating cycle to the mash while stirring; filtration, in which the mash is filtered in order to separate the wort (liquid containing the soluble matter dissolved in the water during the brewing) from the draff (insoluble matter); and cooking, in which the wort is subjected to heating/boiling, during which hops, which gives the beer its bitterness, can be added; fermentation, in which the wort is inoculated with a yeast of the Saccharomyces genus, which will, through fermentation, convert fermentable sugars to alcohol and to carbon dioxide; and standing, in which the beverage is stored at approximately 32° F./0° C. for a period which varies from a few days to a few weeks. The resulting beverage is a young beer, or ale, that can be filtered to remove the yeasts and any particulate residue or matter in suspension (precipitates of polyphenols, proteins, carbohydrates, etc.). The beer is then ready for tapping off, in which the beer is pasteurized and placed in barrels, bottles, growlers, cans, or alternative storage receptacles.
During some of the above processes, there is a risk of oxidation of the subject ingredients, thereby leading to a possibility of depreciated taste and/or freshness of the final product. For example, oxidation of the mash (the mixture of crushed malt and water) may occur at the time of brewing, oxidation of the wort may occur during the cooking step, and oxidation of the hops can occur during introduction of the hops in the cooking process.
Currently, brewers take many precautions to avoid oxidation of ingredients during the above processes. In particular the hops are typically pelletized, bathed in nitrogen, and then stored in vacuum packed oxygen-barrier materials (such as aluminum packs) to ensure little or no contact with oxygen after the hops are made ready for use. It is only just before introduction of hops into a fermentation tank does the vacuum packed seal get broken and the hops delivered to the fermentation tank. The fermentation tank is then immediately re-sealed after the hops are delivered. Venting of the carbon dioxide that is produced during the fermentation process is then allowed to continue via a check-valve style vent arm attached to the fermentation tank that also prevents atmosphere/oxygen from entering the fermentation tank.
With regard to the hops ingredient, hops are generally known as a primary ingredient in the manufacture of beer. The art of using hops in beer has been changing over the last decades from the direct addition of hops to the wort during its boil, to the use of solvent extracts of hops and of hop pellets, to the use of preisomerized purified hop iso-alpha acids (isohumulones), and now to the use of carbon dioxide hop extracts. The direct introduction of hops or pelletized hops into the fermented beer is commonly known as “dry hopping.” An alternative way to introduce hops to the brewing ingredients is by injecting a hops extract into the fermentation tank. The extract can be transferred to the fermentation tank via a closed system in which the hops extract in liquid form is injected into the fermentation tank directly from a hops extract tank, thus minimizing exposure of the hops extract to oxygen.
The resin complex of hops includes humulones (alpha-acids), lupulones (beta-acids), uncharacterized soft resins and ‘hard resins’ (oxidation products of alpha- and beta-acids). During heating or other processing in the brewery, the water-insoluble humulones are converted into soluble isohumulones. The isohumulone content plays a role in determining the level of bitterness in the final beverage product.
It is these alpha-acids that may be subject to deterioration by oxidation during hop storage, hop transfer, and hop use. When oxidation occurs, the alpha-acids complex is then converted into hard resins. In the past, in order to prevent this oxidation, the hops have been pelletized and packaged under vacuum in pellet bags as described above, which slows down the rate of deterioration. However, traces of oxygen remain after evacuation and sealing of the pellet bags, and the residual oxygen is capable of causing some further product deterioration. In addition, during transfer of the hops to the fermentation tank, the hops and the ingredients in the fermentation tank can be exposed to a significant amount of oxygen.
In the past, brewers have added an antioxidant material to the hops, such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C). In this case, the ascorbic acid is preferentially oxidized and prevents the hops from oxidizing. Brewers have also attempted to transfer the hops into the fermentation tanks in an environment that does not include oxygen by using elaborate storage and transfer structures.
Despite all of these efforts there remains a long felt need to continually reduce the amount of exposure of hops and other ingredients in the brewing process to oxygen during the brewing process.